The Attitudes of Social Workers, Health Visitors and School Nurses to Parental Involvement in Child Protection Case Conferences

Correspondence to Mr Neil Cooper, School of Health Sciences, University of Sunderland, Pasteur Building, Sunderland, Tyne and Wear. Summary This report presents an analysis of a questionnaire investigatingattitudes towards parental involvement in child protection caseconferences administered to field and area management socialworkers, health visitors, and school nurses in the area of oneChild Protection Committee, during the early stages of a transitionto parental involvement in conferences. Analysis was undertakento investigate if experience of parental presence in conferences.length of professional experience, and occupational differencesaffected views towards parental involvement. Differences inattitude were found between the two professional groups of socialworkers and nurses, and these are discussed with respect tothree areas: resistance to parental involvement; the effectsof parents upon conference dynamics; and the management of parentalinvolvement.     

SHOULD WE TAKE DON'T KNOW FOR AN ANSWER?

Much attention has been given to the problem of non-attitudes,that is, people expressing opinions while lacking an underlyingattitude (false positives). In comparison, the potential problemof false negatives, people with an attitude who decline to expressan opinion, has been neglected. Using a survey on nuclear powerfrom Sweden, we examine whether people who answer "don't know"but are induced subsequently to give an opinion really haveattitudes. The attitudes these people express on follow-up questionspredict behavior to a significant extent. This implies thatthe usual don't know category includes some false negatives,that is, people who really have attitudes but refrain, at leastinitially, from expressing them.     

ESTIMATING THE LIQUIDITY OF M2 COMPONENTS IN THE POST-DIDMCA ERA

This paper estimates the liquidity of M2 components within an intertemporal model of a representative household. A modification of Pfann and Verspagen's asymmetric adjustment cost function measures liquidity cost. Generalized Method of Moments estimation of structural parameters using monthly data for December 1983–March 1993 reveals significant evidence of asymmetry toward decreasing asset holdings for all components except demand deposits. Estimated withdrawal costs for savings deposits, money market mutual funds, and small time deposits are small. Split sample estimations suggest greater liquidity in the more recent period. The results point to the effects of financial innovation in lowering withdrawal costs. (JEL E51, D91)     

AIR QUALITY CONTROL MODEL COMBINING DATA ON MORBIDITY AND POLLUTION ABATEMENT*

A pollution damage function is developed, using data from a study on the sensitivity of morbidity to ambient air concentrations of individual pollutants. This function is used in a model which incorporates the costs and technology for pollution abatement in the St. Louis Airshed. A set of air quality standards is determined which minimizes morbidity subject to a given control budget constraint. The results indicate that there should be a greater reduction of the pollutants associated with stationary sources than of those characteristic of the automobile.     

GRADUATE EDUCATION IN QUANTITATIVE METHODS IN THE AACSB SCHOOLS

The status of Quantitative Methods in business education is perhaps less “standard” and less understood than any other field. This is probably even more true at the graduate than at the undergraduate level. Courses which are normally considered to be Quantitative Methods courses are often housed in a wide range of departments. Some courses which would normally be classified as Quantitative Methods courses are also housed in colleges other than Business Administration. In order to determine the current status of graduate quantitative methods curricula in schools of business, a survey was made of the member institutions of the American Association of Collegiate Schools of Business. This paper presents the survey findings.     

IS STATUS QUO BIAS CONSISTENT WITH DOWNWARD‐SLOPING DEMAND?

We show that status quo bias combined with downward-sloping demand implies addictive behavior. This result does not depend on transitivity, a complete ordering, or even the existence of a preference relation that rationalizes choices. ( JEL D11, D81)     

WHITE REACTIONS TO BLACK CANDIDATES: WHEN DOES RACE MATTER?

This paper examines the role of race in elections where oneof the candidates is black. Using the 1982 California gubernatorialelection between Tom Bradley and George Deukmejian as a casestudy, the paper shows that whereas racial attitudes were asignificant influence on the voting decisions of whites, Bradley'sbackground did not stimulate an unusual level of racially motivatedbehavior. The paper argues that the impact of a candidate'srace on voting depends on a number of contextual factors, includinghis prior record and campaign style. The paper also proposesa technique for comparing the results of biracial electionswith contests where ah1 the candidates are white as a methodfor estimating the level of racial voting.